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Current Trends in Membrane Science
Published in Mihir Kumar Purkait, Randeep Singh, Membrane Technology in Separation Science, 2018
Mihir Kumar Purkait, Randeep Singh
Artificial organs are man-made devices that are used to replace a defective natural organ. The artificial organ performs the functions of the natural organ and give new life to the patient. There are situations in which a transplant is required, but due to the unavailability of an organ nothing can be done. In general, thousands of patients are on a waiting list for an organ, but donors are not ready to contribute. On the other hand, even if a donor is available, it is possible that the donor’s organ and the patient are incompatible. Therefore, there comes a need to develop artificial organs that replicate the functions of natural organs and can be used universally without the concern of compatibility. Membrane science has played a vital role in this area by helping in the development of artificial organs, such as the artificial kidney, lung, liver, and pancreas. Membranes of various properties are used for the successful development of these organs.
Emerging Challenges and Approaches
Published in Walter R. Boot, Neil Charness, Sara J. Czaja, Wendy A. Rogers, Designing for Older Adults, 2020
Walter R. Boot, Neil Charness, Sara J. Czaja, Wendy A. Rogers
A few trends are worth consideration in terms of anticipating upcoming design challenges. The model of healthcare in the United States and other countries continues to shift responsibilities for care to older adults themselves and their informal caregivers. This shifting of responsibilities will become increasingly necessary as the number of older adults in the world increases, and there is a shortfall of formal caregivers to address their healthcare needs. Technology to support the practice of healthcare at home is a growing area of interest, and poor design has implications not only for system adoption but also the health and safety of older users. Design challenges in this domain include the inherent complexity of healthcare (especially for older adults who are likely to have one or more chronic conditions), how to design systems for individuals with varying degrees of health literacy, and how to present relevant health information differently as a function of the role of the person viewing it (e.g., older adult, informal caregiver, health professional). Emerging technologies include health coaching apps, electronic medical records, electronic pill dispensers, and various telehealth devices. Radically new technologies in this domain may soon include artificial organs and novel bionic implants. An important design challenge to consider in the design of technology-based healthcare solutions relates to infrastructure: how will these systems be designed, for example, considering that many rural communities lack high-speed internet required for some telehealth solutions? Another important consideration in the domain of healthcare is privacy, including who can view health information and what information they can view, which can have important implications for technology attitudes and adoption.
Functional ectodermal organ regeneration based on epithelial and mesenchymal interactions
Published in David M. Gardiner, Regenerative Engineering and Developmental Biology, 2017
Masamitsu Oshima, Takashi Tsuji
Current advances in future regenerative therapies have been inspired by many previous research fields such as embryonic development, stem cell biology, and tissue engineering technology (Langer and Vacanti 1999, Atala 2005, Brockes and Kumar 2005, Madeira et al. 2015). As an attractive regenerative concept, stem cell transplantation using tissue-derived stem cells, embryonic stem (ES) cells, or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells has been attempted for repairing the damaged tissues underlying structural and functional diseases (Addis and Epstein 2013, Takebe et al. 2013, Trounson et al. 2013, Kamao et al. 2014). Regenerative therapy can develop fully functional bioengineered tissues/organs that can replace lost or damaged organs after disease, injury, or aging (Ikeda and Tsuji 2008). Cell-sheet–based therapy allows tissue reconstruction from stem cells grown on a sheet. This regenerative approach can regenerate a broad range of damaged tissues, such as those from burns and cardiac dysfunction, through cell-sheet transplantation (Yang et al. 2005, Miyahara et al. 2006). In addition, an organoid model, which replicates 3D structures, such as parts of organs, has been generated for several organs, including the intestine, pancreas, and liver. Organoids can be derived from both isolated tissue-specific stem cells and isolated tissue fragments from the corresponding organs and would be available for regenerative therapies through the replication of their tissue-specific stem cell niches (Sato et al. 2009, Greggio et al. 2013, Huch et al. 2013a, Huch et al. 2013b, Tan and Barker 2014). Organ replacement regenerative therapy offers great potential for the replacement of dysfunctional organs with fully functional bioengineered organs that are reconstructed by in vitro 3D cell manipulation using candidate stem cells (Atala 2005, Purnell 2008). Many attempts to generate fully functional substitute organs that can replace lost or damaged tissues have been reported. This concept also includes fully artificial organs, which are made from mechanical and chemical devices with computer chips, to reproduce the physiological organ functions of organs, including heart, eyes, and kidneys (Wolf 1952, Copeland et al. 2004). Another tissue engineering strategy that has been used is to create bio-artificial organs composed of living cells and natural or artificial polymers, such as those that can reproduce the biochemical organ functions in the liver and pancreas (Colton 1995, Fort et al. 2008). However, current artificial organs consisting of various functional cells and artificial materials cannot achieve full functionality and thus are not available for long-term organ replacement therapy in vivo (Uygun et al. 2010). Further advances in biotechnology are truly required for achieving the functional replacement of lost or damaged tissues and organs by using organ regenerative therapy.
PVA, licorice, and collagen (PLC) based hybrid bio-nano scaffold for wound healing application
Published in Journal of Biomaterials Science, Polymer Edition, 2023
Md Mehedi Hasan, Md Abdus Shahid
Another investigation on fish collagen-based nanofibers enclosed in bioactive glass were manufactured for use in skin regeneration [34]. Type I collagen-based nanofibers for wound healing were prepared by using the electrospinning technique. Wound dressing demonstrated their effectiveness in skin regeneration and wound healing [35]. Polyvinyl alcohol is a synthetic polymer and is extensively used in biomedical applications. Although it comes from synthetic sources, some remarkable properties make a feasible candidate for various applications. Nontoxic and biodegradable features play a vital role for applying in artificial organ implants, cartilage skin, and cardiovascular devices [36]. Moreover, this polymer is water soluble and electro conductive. In the electrospinning process, it is utilized as a carrier polymer and due to biodegradability it can be used in wound dressing.
Surface modification during hydroxyapatite powder mixed electric discharge machining of metallic biomaterials: a review
Published in Surface Engineering, 2022
Himanshu Bisaria, Bharat Bhusan Patra, Smita Mohanty
A bio-implant is an artificial organ that can be used to treat a body part’s faulty natural organ or tissue while causing no harm to other body parts [69]. These can be implanted into the body and allowed to develop naturally through the process of biological self-bone development to improve the quality of a person's life and longevity. The best choice of biomaterials for a given biomedical application depends on a variety of factors, including mechanical properties, surface morphology, surface chemistry, biodegradability, nontoxicity, and corrosion or wear resistance [70,71]. The biomaterial implant must not alter plasma proteins (including enzymes) in such a way that unfavourable immune responses are elicited. It should not deplete electrolytes, trigger allergic or toxic reactions, or interfere with sterilization [72]. Furthermore, it should not harm or sensitize blood cell components, cause thrombosis, elicit an unfavourable immunological response, or cause cancer. As a result, the environment should not cause the biomaterial to lose its mechanical and physical properties due to corrosion or deterioration (such as biological or mechanical) [73,74].
Recent progress in three-dimensional flexible physical sensors
Published in International Journal of Smart and Nano Materials, 2022
Fan Zhang, Tianqi Jin, Zhaoguo Xue, Yihui Zhang
3D flexible physical sensors typically utilize a strategically designed 3D architecture integrated with advanced functional materials to enable sensing of optical signal (e.g. light intensity, light orientation, and imaging), mechanical quantities (e.g. force/pressure, strain, and modulus), and other physical quantities (e.g. temperature and the density or viscosity of fluid), with a sufficiently high sensitivity. The flexible physical sensors with these capabilities have widespread potential applications in health monitoring[49–55], artificial organ[56–59], and human-machine interfaces[60,61]. Recent studies showed that physical sensors with specific 3D geometric layouts could offer sensing capabilities and/or performances that highly surpass those of planar sensors. For example, the tactile sensors with 2D configuration can detect the contact force only in the normal direction at the interface, and is not able to measure the shear forces. Concurrent sensing of compressive and frictional forces requires 3D architected sensors. Similarly, direct measurements of optical, flow, and magnetic vector fields also demand advanced sensors with 3D geometric layouts.